A Moment In Time
by Deltree
Summary: A Jack from the future falls through the Rift and spends a few hours with Ianto.
1. Falling Through

Title: A Moment in Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or its characters.

Pairing: Janto

Warning: Slash, language

Summary: A Jack from the future falls through the Rift and spends a few hours with Ianto.

Spoilers: I've only seen up to the end of the First season (I'm buying the second season soon) so there shouldn't be any spoilers unless you haven't seen even that much.

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Chapter #1: Falling Through

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**YEAR 2008**

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"Oi! Tea-boy!"

Looking up from fiddling with the coffee machine at the shout, Ianto sighed and turned to Owen. "Yes?" he asked politely, "Did you need something?"

Owen raised his empty coffee cup up in the air, not bothering to look away from his computer screen. "Yeah. Fill me up, would ya?"

"Of course," Ianto said, abandoning the coffee machine to walk over to Owen and take the cup from his hands. Walking back to the coffee machine and waiting a few moments for the pot to finish filling up before taking it and pouring Owen another cup. Returning the cup to Owen's side, he then turned to see if the other's needed another fill-up too. They did.

That was his life nowadays. Ignoring the occasional trip down to the archive to file away another alien artifact or up to the Tourist Office to deal with a customer, his days were usually spent keeping the others in coffee and cleaning up after their messes. And to think, he used to have so much promise.

Ianto shook his head with a frown as he got together a tray, trying to clear his head of such thoughts. What was he thinking? He was useful. Who else knew the archives inside and out? Who else could run the Tourist Office? So what if it seemed that all he was nowadays was a glorified secretary. He had a job. That was all that mattered.

Knocking on the door to Jack's office and hearing the answering "Come in!", Ianto eased the door open and entered the small room. "Your coffee, sir," he said, holding up the cup he held as if to validate his statement.

Jack looked up from his paperwork and smiled at him. "Ah, Ianto. Just the person I wanted to see. And can I say, love the suit."

Ianto carefully placed Jack's coffee—two sugars, one milk—down on his desk and stepped back, folding his hands behind his back. "Thank you, sir," he said stiffly. He really didn't want to get into what Jack was clearly aiming at. It just made him feel all the more like the secretary he might as well be, screwing his boss like he was trying for a promotion. Never mind the fact that Ianto was actually starting to feel something for the other man. It just showed him what an idiot he could be because Jack would never think of him like that. Jack was just using him for a bit of fun, that was all. "Can I get you anything else while I'm here?" Ianto asked, hoping for Jack to say no so he could leave.

Jack smiled again, standing up from behind his desk and approaching Ianto slowly. "Well, now, that's the thing. I can think of quite a few things you can definitely help me out with." Getting closer, Jack ran a hand down Ianto's chest and Ianto carefully held still, not wanting to move a muscle in case that gave Jack the wrong idea.

Carefully pushing Jack's hand away, Ianto took a step back. "Careful, sir," he warned, "We're at work."

Jack only stepped closer again, taking hold of Ianto's suit folds and pulling Ianto's hips in to meet his as he did so. "I'm sure the boss won't mind."

Ianto still held himself still, not quite trusting himself. "Yes, but anyone can hear us," he said, trying again to escape the inevitable.

"Not if we're quiet," Jack breathed, moving his head in so that his lips just barely brushed Ianto's own. "We can even make a game of it," he finished cheerfully, bringing his head back to smile brightly.

That smile almost did the trick. Ianto was wearing down, his hands coming up to clutch at Jack's braces of their own accord as he closed his eyes and breathed in Jack's scent. "But . . ."

And that was when the Rift alarm went off.

Ianto's eyes popped open and he quickly pulled away from Jack again, smoothing his hands over his suit as he got himself under control.

Jack scowled, not liking that his plans had been interrupted. Walking over to the door, he flung it open and stuck his head out, calling down to the others. "What is it?"

"There's been a spike in Rift activity," Tosh answered, busy tapping away at her computer, looking for the location.

Jack immediately became all business, going back into his office to grab his greatcoat and then quickly descending the stairs. "Where?" he asked as he came up behind Tosh at her computer.

"I'm not sure. I haven't been able to pinpoint the location just yet," Tosh answered.

"Well, then come on," Jack said, urging her out of her seat as Gwen and Owen grabbed their own coats and made for the exit. "You can pinpoint it from the car."

Tosh nodded and quickly gathered up her laptop before swiftly following behind Jack's retreating form. Before he knew it, Ianto was left alone in the Hub and he came down from Jack's office with a sigh as he looked around the deserted room.

It was a mess, he eventually decided, and resolutely began to clean.

--

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**YEAR 2039**

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Pulling up to the The Rose Garden, a small, out of the way, bed and breakfast that had been popular at the turn of the 21st century, Jack turned off the engine and hopped out of the car. "This the place, Sara?" he asked, turning to the dark-haired British tech-genius he had hired only a year ago.

Sara checked the car computer then nodded. "Yep. The Rift energy is coming from inside." Turning off the computer, she grabbed her bag then climbed out of the car and looked up at the dilapidated building. "Doesn't look like much," she commented.

"I'm sure in its day it was beautiful," Jack said, already hurrying up the stairs and using a bit of alien technology they had recently scavenged to open the door. They called it the 'any-key'. "Full of people and charm," he continued, really more for something to say than anything. He looked around the entranceway that was revealed by the open door. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, outdated furniture and ornate mirrors left to rot. This place had been abandoned nearly ten years ago and the years definitely showed.

Sara looked past his shoulder and snorted. "Oh yeah, I can really tell. Looks right cozy."

Jack just shot her a look as he went further into the room, glancing into the sitting room that sat just off to the side as he went all business. "Can you pinpoint which room the Rift energy is coming from?"

Sara took out her scanner from her bag and checked the screen. Apparently not getting what she wanted, she tapped a few buttons and checked again. "No. It just says it's in the building," she finally said. "I can probably pinpoint it when we get closer, but for now I've got nothing."

"Alright then we'll do this methodically," Jack said with a nod. "First this floor then the next."

Sara nodded and held the scanner out at a good distance from her, turning round in a slow circle to see if she could possibly get a direction to start the search. The beeping seemed to get a little stronger from the right so she went over in that direction, Jack following her lead.

Half an hour later and they were still looking, now up on the second floor.

"How's the signal?" Jack asked, peeking into one of the bedrooms before turning back to her.

"Getting stronger," Sara replied, still holding the scanner out. Moving closer to the end of the hallway, the beeping suddenly became much stronger, getting loud and fast, and Sara quickly called her boss over. "Over here!" she said, dragging Jack away from another peek into another bedroom. "I think this is it."

"This?" Jack asked, walking over to her and looking around the hallway. Nothing seemed different about this corner of the hall, but maybe . . . He walked around the corner to see if anything was there. Nothing was so he turned to return back and stopped suddenly. "Sara . . ." he said slowly, just wanting to hear her voice.

"Yeah, Jack?" she asked, not having looked up from fiddling with the scanner. The beeping had gone suddenly quiet and she wanted to figure out why.

"Sara," Jack said, still slowly, "Do you see what I see?"

"What?" she asked, finally looking up from the scanner only to stop short at the sight of her surroundings. "Jack . . . ?" she asked almost hesitantly as she stared at the brightly colored flowered wallpaper. "Why does everything suddenly seem new?"

"Because everything is new, Sara," Jack said, turning around in a slow, wary, circle, his voice guarded. "I think we were just sucked through the Rift."

"What?" Sara demanded as she turned to him, sounding a mite bit frightened now. "But . . ."

"Now we just have to stay calm," Jack said, turning back to his employee, "I've been through this before. I have. We just have to stay calm and everything will be alright."

"But Jack!" Sara said as she lowered the scanner, his calm assertion obviously having no effect on her. "We've been sucked through the _Rift_! There's no way home from that! We're—

"Are you two alright?" a cleaning lady asked, having been drawn around the corner by Sara's loud voice.

Jack immediately smiled his charming grin. "Oh yeah. Perfectly fine. Just having a little chat with the missus about where we wanted to go today. She says shopping. I say no."

Sara bit her lip and tried to reign herself in. She needed to keep it together. Jack was counting on her to not go completely crazy.

The cleaning lady smiled, apparently satisfied that nothing was wrong, and continued on her way, the wheels of her cleaning cart squeaking in mild protest as she pulled it past them and down the hall.

As soon as she was gone, Sara turned back to Jack. "What are we going to do?" she hissed furiously.

Jack opened his mouth, about to say something when he was cut off.

"I'll tell you what you're going to do," a familiar voice cut in as a carbon copy of Jack came around the corner, his gun drawn. "You two are going to stay silent and come with us peacefully. Nothing clever."

Jack stared at himself exactly thirty-one years ago and said the first thing that came to mind. "Well shit."

--

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**YEAR 2008**

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The air was full with tension as they rode back to the Hub, everybody looking between the two Jacks and comparing them in their heads as the two Jacks just sat there and prayed nobody would ever get up the nerve to ask.

Unfortunately, neither Jacks' prayers were answered and Gwen finally voiced the all important question, "So when are you from?"

Up front, Present Jack's hands clenched the steering wheel tighter as he glanced quickly at the rear-view mirror while, in the back, Future Jack smiled almost nervously and replied, "Do we really need to get into that here?"

Seated shotgun, Owen twisted round to regard Future Jack seriously. "Oh come off it, mate. You're goin' to need to tell us sometime. You know the procedures."

That made Gwen look at Owen. "What procedures?"

"Not now, Gwen," Present Jack said and then went quiet, his eyes back on the road. Clearly that was all he was going to say about that.

Not too happy about it, Gwen still decided that she could wait to find out. Right now, she was really more interested in finding out when this new Jack came from. So she turned back to Future Jack only to find him staring out the window, jaw clenched. She sighed. Obviously she wasn't going to be getting anything out of him any time soon.

"Oi!" Owen said, obviously ignoring the stubborn set to Future Jack's jaw and trying to get his attention. "I said come off it. What year are you from?"

Jaw relaxing just a little bit, Future Jack looked down at his hands and didn't seem to be really listening or willing to answer. But just before Owen could really start to be annoying, he opened his mouth and told them. "2039."

Doing some quick math, Gwen blinked. That was thirty-one years from now and Jack hadn't aged a bit. But it made sense really. Gwen had known he was a lot older than he looked. Obviously the not dying thing came with the added bonus of not being able to age.

But, hearing the year, Owen and Tosh just stared.

"But – but that's thirty-one years from now!" Owen said, clearly startled by this new information.

"And you look exactly the same," Tosh said as though Future Jack wasn't aware of this fact.

Future Jack turned to Tosh and smiled, but his heart clearly wasn't in it. "Would you believe I just aged extremely well?"

"No. Not really," Tosh said.

Owen agreed. "Nobody ages that well."

"Nice try though," Gwen said with a smile. "Really."

That made Future Jack's smile become a little more real as he looked down at her. "Oh I missed that. Gwen and her never-ending compassion. Got you in loads of trouble. Almost got you fired."

Gwen's smile grew as she remembered. "It did. It does."

And with that they pulled into the underground parking lot.

"Alright. Everyone out," Present Jack said as he turned off the engine and hopped out of the car. Not waiting for everyone else, he just started off for the Hub.

Gwen waited as Future Jack and the woman got out of the car and seemed to have a short whispered conversation before they followed the others. It got a little heated and then Future Jack seemed to be able to calm the woman down. Gwen smiled as the two of them smiled at each other and then continued on their way; Gwen bringing up the rear and making sure their visitors didn't just bolt. It had happened before and she was just being careful.

Not that it seemed like Future Jack or the woman—she really should find out her name—were going to be any trouble. They had been perfectly reasonable and calm the whole ride there.

Besides this was Jack, future version or not. Jack was always the one fixing messes not causing them.

The short walk to the Hub was as calm and mannerly as the entire operation had been and Gwen was just looking forward to a cup of coffee with a possible conversation about the future when she nearly ran into Future Jack's back.

Wondering what the problem was, Gwen looked around the blockade to find that Ianto had just come up from the archives and was looking at the two Jacks in confusion.

"Ianto," Future Jack whispered as he stared wide-eyed at the confused Welshman, his voice disbelieving and sad, worshipful and ecstatic all at once.

Ianto just continued to look confused. "I'm sorry. Did something happen?"

--

TBC?


	2. Hello Again

I wanted to thank all those people who reviewed including katie, Cape-Cod-Kwassa-Kwassa, janto-gal, JonesHazelJones, Candybree, Tayla, SupernaturalGal6, Bluerock 7, lil red cap, and enzymion. Thank you!

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Chapter #2: Hello Again

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Ianto blinked at the two Jacks, one standing in the door to the Hub and the other over by the couch. "I'm sorry. Did something happen?"

The Jack by the door laughed loudly. "Oh. Oh I _missed_ that. Those lovely long vowels. No one else ever said them like you."

That just made Ianto blink again and turn to the Jack by the door. Apparently that Jack was insane. "I'm sorry?"

The insane Jack waved him off as he walked further into the Hub. "Nothing. Nothing. Never mind. Just—" He turned to pin Ianto with a startlingly clear gaze. "How are you?" And it even sounded as if he really wanted to know.

"Um." Ianto blinked a third time, unaccustomed to anybody asking about his health. "I'm fine, sir."

"Sir?" The insane Jack looked delighted by this. "Sir!" he repeated again, almost joyously as he approached Ianto. "Oh I _remember_ that! It used to drive me absolutely _crazy_." Now within a foot of Ianto, the insane Jack leered suggestively. "Not in a bad way though."

"Oh I did _not _need to know that!" Owen cried out, disgusted, and put his hands over his ears and his head on his desk.

Ianto used all his willpower not to blush, staring straight ahead instead.

The insane Jack looked a little disappointed. "What. No blush? Nothing? Come on work with me here. I need to see a little color."

Ianto decided to address the Jack that was across the room. Hopefully he was less insane. "Sir?" he used stubbornly, not about to change his speaking habits just because his boss was acting strange. "Why are there two of you?"

The Jack across the room did not look pleased by his double's actions. "Meet me," he said scornfully, "Thirty-one years into the future."

Ianto whipped around to stare at the insane Jack, who was still smiling but less suggestively now even as his eyes roamed Ianto's body.

The Jack across the room sighed and ran a hand through his hair before explaining, "He fell through the Rift."

Ianto's eyes went up and down the future Jack's body, trying to find any differences. "You haven't aged," he finally said as he turned back to Present Jack.

Owen raised his head at this to sneer. "Brilliant deduction, Sherlock. Can't say we noticed."

Ianto wouldn't be goaded into a fight and so he gave Future Jack one last look over before turning back to the others. "Would anybody like some coffee?" It seemed like they might need it.

"Oh me!" Future Jack said, visibly brightening and raising his hand excitedly. "Me! I need some coffee. I haven't had your coffee in _ages_. Sara. Sara!" Future Jack turned to the dark haired woman he had come in with. "You _need_ to try his coffee. It's even better than Erin's."

Sara, as her name apparently was, looked intrigued by this. "Really?" she asked as she turned to Ianto. "You don't mind do you?"

Ianto gave his usual small smile. "Of course not. I'll go find you a cup." And he was just about to go do that too, when Present Jack spoke up.

"Don't bother," he said, looking over at Future Jack and Sara with a serious expression. "These two were just about to be put away."

This made Gwen look up, having stepped out from behind Future Jack to go sit at her desk while this conversation was playing out. "Put away?" she echoed, feeling that nothing that sounded that foreboding could be good. "What do you mean by put away?"

"People from the near future that fall through the Rift get frozen and put away until the right year comes," Owen explained in his usual blunt fashion. He shrugged. "No big deal."

Gwen looked wide-eyed at this new information. "No big deal?" she repeated incredulously. "Of _course_ it's a big deal! They're _frozen._"

Present Jack sighed irritably, not wanting to get into this just now. "Look. It's for the best."

Gwen just looked appalled. "How can being _frozen_ be for the best?"

"It just is, okay?" Present Jack said impatiently, turning on his newest employee as he tried to press this point on her mind. "Trust me. It is." Then he turned to the two visitors from the future. "Now come on. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

But before either Future Jack or Sara could react to that, Gwen was up out of her chair and shaking her head. "Oh no, no, no, no, no you aren't. You are not _freezing_ people while I'm here!"

Present Jack looked even more irritated by this. "This is standard procedure, Gwen."

"So?" was Gwen's answer to that. "Just because you've always done something doesn't make it right."

"You know, Gwen, I don't mind," Future Jack said, obviously trying to avoid a fight though he couldn't quite seem to drag his eyes away from Ianto. Finally his eyes turned from watching Ianto's calm expression to look to Gwen. "I mean, it is procedure."

"Well, maybe you don't, but I do," Sara said indignantly. "I'm not being frozen."

"See Jack?" Gwen said as if this proved something. "She doesn't want to be frozen either."

Present Jack tried to take a deep breath in to steel himself for dealing with Gwen's pesky morality. But he found he couldn't do it. "You know what? I don't have time for this. Ianto? Take Gwen upstairs. We need to get this show on the road."

Ianto inclined his head in deferral to Jack's orders. "Yes, sir."

"What?" Gwen demanded as Ianto stepped in her direction. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no," she said, taking a step away from Ianto and holding up her hands to ward him off. "You are _not_ shutting me away right now. I—"

Before she could say anything else the Rift alarm started to sound loudly and she fell silent, looking up to the ceiling where she thought the Rift alarm originated from. Ianto stopped moving in her direction, recognizing that Jack's orders would probably be different now that the alarm had gone off.

Putting a hand to his head, Present Jack closed his eyes and took another deep breath, his whole attitude one of 'What next?'. Then he opened his eyes and turned to Tosh to see how bad things were.

"Tosh?"

Busy tapping at her keyboard, Tosh brought up image after image on the CCTV to see what was happening. "An alien ship just crashed into Burton's," she reported.

"Burton's?" Present Jack repeated, obviously never having heard of the place.

"It's that new department store down in the business district. It just opened up about a month ago," Gwen supplied.

"And of course, you would know all about it," Owen sneered.

"Hey," Gwen said defensively, "I shop."

"Right," Owen said sarcastically, eyeing her casual jeans and t-shirt with skepticism.

"I do," Gwen insisted, uncomfortably crossing her arms over her chest to hide the t-shirt.

"Well whatever it is, you don't exactly have the time to freeze us right now," Sara pointed out. "You should really get going."

"She's right," Future Jack said, drawing his eyes away from Ianto again. "Alien spaceship. That sounds big. Bigger than us, at least."

Present Jack scowled, but obviously realized that they had a point. "I can't just leave you two here alone."

"We won't be," Future Jack said, starting to smile. "Ianto will be with us. He'll keep us out of all your stuff."

"The Tea-boy?" Owen asked scornfully, obviously thinking the idea ridiculous. "What's the Tea-boy going to do? Throw coffee on you? Yeah, that'll stop you."

That made Future Jack's smile dim somewhat and he gave Owen a somewhat displeased look even as Ianto continued to stand stiffly in the background, silent and unnoticed and ignoring all mockery.

"Ianto," Present Jack said, turning to the silent Welshman. "Do you think you could handle these two for a bit? We won't be long."

Ianto inclined his head once more in deferral to Jack's wishes. "Yes, sir."

Future Jack turned away from Owen and looked back to Ianto with a small frown, as if he didn't like the way Ianto was acting.

But Present Jack nodded, knowing that he could trust Ianto to follow his orders if nothing else. Letting out a long breath, he said, "Well it's the best we can do." Then he clapped his hands together and started rallying the team. "So come on. Let's get going. Alien spaceship and all that."

"I can't believe you," Owen said, turning to Present Jack incredulously. "You're actually going to leave them alone with the Tea-boy? We'll come back and the whole place will be torn apart."

Present Jack gave Owen a stern look. "Like I said. It's the best we can do. Now get going."

It was a quick five minutes, but then Present Jack and the current Torchwood team were out the door to deal with the spaceship leaving Future Jack, Sara, and Ianto in the Hub alone.

Future Jack plopped down on the worn couch in the middle of the Hub with a smile as he turned to Ianto. "Now how about that coffee?"

"Yes, sir." Ianto nodded and left to go retrieve two cups from the back room. Coming back into the main area of the Hub, he poured each visitor a cup and handed these out.

Sara took hers to sit on the couch next to her boss, holding her cup between her hands for the warmth, while Future Jack took his with another smile and made room for Ianto to sit on his other side. "Sit down with us, will you?"

This was a little strange, not something Ianto was used to, so he tried to decline. "I really shouldn't, sir. I have work to do."

"I always did wonder what you got up to when we were out," Jack said, looking at Ianto with new curiosity. "What do you have to do? Maybe I can help."

"Oh, there's no need. I can handle it just fine, sir," Ianto said and then quickly left to go find something to clean. He really didn't have anything to do, but he found himself thinking it would be best if he _didn't _sit with this future version of his boss, especially as this version seemed just a little too eager to make his acquaintance. Lord knows what Ianto would be convinced to do by the end of the day. It was best to just avoid all temptation.

An awkward hour passed as Ianto tried to continue his tidying up of the Hub with Jack watching his every move. At one point Sara leaned in closer to his boss to make a comment and Ianto had to try his hardest to pretend that he hadn't heard.

"I've never seen you this happy before," Sara said, obviously talking about the small smile that had not disappeared from Future Jack's face since the others had left. "And you're usually only this focused when there's a crisis," she continued. "What gives?"

"It's just nice to see them again, that's all," Future Jack said with a smile and a casual shrug, finally turning away from Ianto to look at his employee. He was obviously trying for nonchalance, but he was also failing horribly at it as he had been noticeably staring a hole in Ianto's back for the past 60 minutes.

"Bullshit," Sara said bluntly. "I mean, yeah, I can see you missing them and all, but you've been staring at that coffee guy like all your Christmases have come at once and you're ready to open the presents already."

Future Jack looked mildly indignant. "I have not."

"Yeah, you have. You're being bloody unsubtle about it as well. We usually have to use a tank to get anything personal out of you and now you're practically shouting your feelings from the rooftop."

To his credit, Future Jack didn't try to deny the obvious. "Well, okay, fine. It's just that Ianto . . . well, Ianto was special."

Ianto fumbled with the cup he had been picking up from Tosh's desk, nearly letting it fall out of his hands and onto the desk before he got a better hold on it. Had he just heard what he thought he'd heard?

"Hey, Ianto!" Future Jack called out. "You okay over there?"

"Just fine, sir," Ianto said hurriedly, not turning to look at the future version of his boss. He knew what he'd heard, but what did that mean? It couldn't mean . . . No. No, that would be silly.

Another few minutes passed and Ianto found himself with even less to busy himself with. It was starting to become obvious that he was just trying to ignore Jack's future self. And when he found himself cleaning Owen's workspace for the fifth time, Jack finally called him on it.

"Are you ignoring me?"

"What?" Ianto turned and tried to appear surprised by this question. "Of course not, sir. Why would I ignore you?"

Future Jack obviously looked straight through this fake surprise. "That's what I want to know. Is something wrong?"

"Of course not. What could be wrong?"

"Then why don't you come sit down by me?" Future Jack asked, looking at Ianto with only curiosity.

Sara took this time to take her drink and move to a spot on the stairs, leaving the couch open for Ianto to sit. There went that excuse.

Ianto tried to think of ways he could get out of this, but nothing was coming to mind. Finally, he just said, "Do you think that would really be wise?"

Future Jack smiled triumphantly, obviously knowing that he had won. "I think it would be perfectly wise. After all, you're just sitting near me. What could be bad about that?"

What could indeed.

Still Ianto paused before walking slowly over to Jack's side and sitting down cautiously on the very edge of the couch, fully prepared to jump up and leave at any moment.

Future Jack smiled at him tenderly, which was incredibly strange and almost made Ianto leave right then. "Come on. Sit back. I'm not going to bite. I promise."

Not quite trusting him, Ianto still slowly sank back in the seat so that his back touched the cushions of the couch.

"Now," Future Jack said, giving all of his attention to the young man next to him. "I don't think you ever really properly answered my question. How are you?"

Ianto was sure he'd answered that question before and he frowned slightly, a little confused. "I'm fine, sir."

"Okay, good," Jack said with a nod, looking for a moment like he would actually accept that. But then he turned his startlingly clear gaze right back on Ianto and asked again, "Now tell me the truth. How are you?"

Ianto only looked more confused. What did this Jack want him to answer? Normally, just the assurance that Ianto was fine was enough for him and Jack would either happily go back to whatever he'd been doing before Ianto had entered the room or set to his seduction plans without another question.

And, seeing his confusion, Jack smiled again, though there was an almost sad edge to it. "Oh right. You're not used to me actually caring. I remember now." Future Jack frowned and looked down into his drink. "You know," he started musingly then looked back up at Ianto, "I never should have done that to you. I was a bastard for a good year if I remember correctly."

Ianto looked a little worried at this new line of conversation and started to inch away, preparing to leave. "Careful, sir. I don't think I'm supposed to know this."

Future Jack smiled. "Oh don't worry. You retcon this entire experience from memory just as soon as I leave. Which really just leaves everything so open for questions. So tell me." He regarded Ianto with a grin. "What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything, just ask."

Still somewhat wary of this line of conversation, Ianto still looked at this Jack curiously. He could ask anything? Anything at all? He knew he really shouldn't, but . . . No, he couldn't. It wouldn't be right. It wouldn't . . . But Jack would never have to know.

Clearly understanding that Ianto was conflicted, Future Jack's grin softened and he said, "Nobody has to know. Just think of it as a way to make up for what a bastard I've been lately. "

Well . . .

--

TBC?


	3. Getting Some Things Off His Chest

To katie: I'm sorry. I didn't understand your question. Before Present Jack goes where?

And I want to thank enzymion, katie, and Candybree for reviewing. Thanks! And this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. Sorry!

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Chapter #3: Getting Some Things Off His Chest

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No.

No, it was just a bad idea all around. Jack wouldn't want him sneaking around behind his back to learn all his secrets no matter that this Jack was basically offering them on a silver platter and even seemed to want him to know. It didn't matter that Ianto wouldn't remember it. It would still be a betrayal of trust and Ianto wasn't going to do that again.

Ianto shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I really should be going." He started to leave, but Future Jack tugged him back down.

"But you don't even have anywhere to be!" Future Jack said, sounding dismayed that his offer had been refused. "Why can't you just sit with me a while longer?"

Ianto turned back to Future Jack, a serious expression on his face. "I can sit with you, but you can't tell me anything. I _will_ leave."

"Oh come on," Future Jack pleaded, "Don't tell me you don't want to know. You were all for it a minute ago."

"And then I realized it was a stupid idea and stopped thinking about it," Ianto replied snappishly. "So either shut up or watch me leave." Almost immediately after he said that, Ianto wanted to take it back. Future Jack or not, this was still his boss. You just don't tell your boss to shut up.

"I mean . . ." Ianto looked horrified, but Future Jack only smiled sadly.

"Look at you," he said, "Even now you're making me better than I am." Future Jack heaved a sigh and let him go, looking down at his lap and seeming ashamed for wanting to tell Ianto about the future. "You're right. It was a stupid idea. I just thought . . ." he trailed off, leaving that thought hanging. But Ianto could guess what he had thought.

"It was . . . It was nice of you to offer though," Ianto said, taking pity on this future version of his boss.

"No . . . no you said it was stupid and you meant it was stupid," Future Jack said, looking up to give Ianto a self-mocking glance. "You don't have to sugarcoat things for me."

"I'm not sugarcoating," Ianto insisted. "It _was_ a nice thought. It just was a stupid one as well."

"Ah thanks," Future Jack said in an aw-shucks manner, clearly getting back into a more jovial mood. Putting his coffee to the side, he tugged Ianto closer to him, putting an arm around his shoulders in a brotherly way and leaning back against the worn back of the sofa. "So what _can_ we talk about?"

Ianto tried to shrug, but he was effectively trapped against Future Jack's chest. "You can tell me general things. Things that have nothing to do with me."

"But I want to tell you all _about_ things that have to do with you!" Jack complained, whining playfully. "You wouldn't be interested in the other things."

Ianto managed to sit up a little so that his head was resting on Jack's shoulder and wrapped an arm around Future Jack's waist. He smiled. This was almost kind of nice. "Sure I would," he said. "What have you been doing lately?"

Future Jack actually thought about this. "Well there was that one thing. That was kind of weird."

Strange stories about the Rift were always interesting, so Ianto lifted his head and asked curiously, "What?"

"A talking cat nun if you can believe that," Jack said, looking down at him with smile, "From the future. New Earth to be exact."

Ianto just looked interested. "What did it want?"

"I think it was a she," Future Jack informed him primly before continuing, "And _she_ wanted what any cat nun wants—a handful of 21st Century mold and a ride home."

At that, Ianto blinked. "Mold?"

Future Jack smiled again at his confusion and nodded. "Yep. Mold. She was very particular about the mold too. Had to be a certain color and shape. We couldn't just grab what was left at the back of the fridge and send her off with that. We actually had to go on a mold hunt."

"A mold hunt," Ianto repeated slowly, almost incredulously.

Jack seemed to sense his rising disbelief. "I'm telling the truth! She wanted mold! I offered her candy and a whole bunch of other little 21st century trinkets, but she just wanted her mold."

"Huh," Ianto said as he sat back and thought of that.

Future Jack smiled. "Yeah, that's about what I'd thought you'd say."

Ianto turned back to him. "Any other weird things happening?"

"Not really," Future Jack said, relaxing back against the seat, arm still thrown around Ianto's shoulders. "There was that almost invasion of donkey-sized chinchillas, but that's pretty much it."

Ianto turned to him with wide-eyes. "Did you just say donkey-sized chinchillas?"

"Yeah," Future Jack said musingly, clearly remembering that day. He turned to talk to his employee. "You remember that, Sara?"

"Yep," Sara said, nodding her head cheerily. "Looked like huge rats. Andrew had an absolute fit."

"Ah yes," Jack said, obviously amused as he turned back to Ianto. "Andy and his rat phobia. We learned a lot about him that day."

Ianto smiled. It looked like the future was alright if Jack could still be close to his team.

"So which one of your team do you . . . you know?" Ianto gave Jack a significant look.

Amusement passing, Jack just looked confused. "Huh?"

"You know . . ." Ianto said again with a smile, "Which one takes my place?"

Future Jack seemed to suddenly freeze, his face horrified. "Takes . . . takes your place? No . . . no one! How can you . . . how can you even _ask_ that?!"

Ianto frowned, wondering what the big deal was. "I just wanted to know which one you were shagging."

"Ianto," Future Jack said, taking him by the shoulders and looking him in the eye, seeming to want to make sure that Ianto got this one point. "You and me weren't just "shagging"." What we had was—

Ianto jerked away suddenly. "I thought you said you weren't going to say anything!" he exclaimed.

"Well I wouldn't, but then you had to go and say things that just aren't true!" Future Jack tried to explain. "That are so far from true that – that— Jack seemed to be having trouble finding words. "Well they just aren't true!" he eventually settled on.

"I told you not to tell me!" Ianto said, getting up from his seat so that he could leave.

"Ianto!" Future Jack said, jumping up and grabbing Ianto by the arm.

Ianto shook him off, taking his arm back to glare at the older man. "No. You said you wouldn't say anything. I'm not supposed to know any of this."

"Will you just listen to me!"

Ianto shook his head and started to leave. Jack rushed after him, catching up to him by Gwen's desk.

"I just wanted to say— Future Jack started.

"I'm not listening," Ianto said as he stepped around Gwen's desk and headed for Tosh's.

Future Jack continued tenaciously. "That what we had was—

"Still not listening," Ianto said, moving around some papers on Tosh's desk, being careful of the alien artifact she was in the middle of figuring out.

"It was special!" Jack still continued. "I mean, I never really said it but—

Ianto had to stop him there. "Sir, stop. Just stop." He turned to regard Jack seriously. "Why are even you telling me all this?"

"Why?" Future Jack repeated, almost as if he didn't know why Ianto even had to ask. But then he smiled sadly; able to admit he was glad Ianto was finally listening. "Because if I don't then I'll never be able to."

That made sense and Ianto nodded, looking down at the papers in his hands, not needing anything more. But Jack still had things to say.

"I never was brave enough to ever really tell you this stuff when you were alive, you know?" Future Jack said, looking at Ianto seriously. "I mean, I assumed you knew, I seem to remember basically doing everything _but_ tell you, but there's still always that doubt." Jack tucked his hands in the pockets of his greatcoat, frowning to himself as he was lost in sad memories. "And then you die," he said softly. "Much, much too soon. And whatever chance I had to tell you was gone, just like that." Future Jack snapped his fingers to show how quickly the chance had passed. He looked back up at Ianto to regard him with sad eyes. "You know, I never stopped regretting that."

Ianto didn't quite know what to say to that. "I'm . . . I'm sure I knew."

"Well I certainly hope so," Future Jack said before smirking suddenly, clearly still a little sad, but trying to regain his cheek. "But you always were a little slow with things like that."

Ianto frowned and, looking a little miffed, said, "I was not."

Future Jack's smirk grew. "You were," he corrected. "I mean, you could understand my moods with almost unnatural ease and always, always knew when to bring me my coffee before I'd even realized I'd wanted it, but you never could tell how I felt about you." Then Future Jack frowned again, looking sad once more. "You never did quite stop thinking yourself as undeserving."

Not having anything to say to that, Ianto looked down at the floor.

"And you were deserving," Future Jack said, stepping closer so that he could almost touch Ianto, trying to look Ianto in the eyes but Ianto had ducked his head. "It may seem cheesy, but I was the undeserving one."

Ianto shook his head and took a step back. "No . . . you . . . you could never . . ."

"I was," Future Jack said seriously. "You have no idea how many times I messed up. How many times I did the wrong thing with you."

"But I . . ."

"You made one mistake," Future Jack said. "And you did it because you were in love. I think that's a good reason to do anything, really. Well," Future Jack smirked again, "Except refuse me my coffee. That was just plain cruel when you did that."

Ianto let out a half-choked laugh and shook his head again, keeping his head down so Jack couldn't see the expression on his face.

Jack couldn't know how much he had regretted that thing with Lisa. How it had haunted his nightmares for weeks afterwards. He had essentially killed someone just because he couldn't let go. He had lied to the team and put them in danger when they had trusted him. There just wasn't anything good you could say about a person who did something like that.

"Hey," Future Jack said gently when Ianto still refused to show his face. "Are you, okay?"

Leaning against Tosh's desk, Ianto tried to pull himself back under control. Patting down his suit, he stood straight again and tried to ease any of Jack's concern. "Yes, sir. I'm just fine."

Jack frowned, still concerned. "You always say that, but I never know when you really mean it.

"I . . ." Ianto started to speak, not really sure what he was about to say when he heard the sound of the lift being activated. The others were back.

--

TBC.


End file.
